Author: Badalian Vardan

DIRECTOR OF ‘1915’ ON GROWING UP WITH ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AS FAMILY HISTORY

89.3 KPCC
April 15 2015

by John Rabe

Turkey was on the defensive Wednesday, lashing out at both Pope Francis
and the European Union’s legislature for their descriptions of the
Ottoman-era killing of Armenians as genocide. Turkey’s prime minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said that the pontiff has joined “an evil front”
plotting against Turkey… Later Wednesday, the European Parliament
triggered more Turkish ire by passing a non-binding resolution to
commemorate “the centenary of the Armenian genocide.” In a quick
response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the resolution was an
attempt to rewrite history and threatens to harm bilateral relations
between the EU and Turkey. — Associated Press, April 15, 2015

This month, most of the world commemorates the 100th anniversary of
the Armenian genocide, in which the Turks killed an estimated 1.5
million Armenians. This weekend marks the opening of a new movie that
tells the story again, but through a production of a play staged at
the historic Los Angeles Theatre in downtown LA.

Alec Mouhibian and Garin Hovannisian’s “1915” opens this weekend in
Southern California and next weekend in New York, and Hovannisian
came to the Off-Ramp studio to talk with host John Rabe about the film.

(Filmmaker Garin Hovannisian at the Mohn Broadcast Center. Credit:
John Rabe)

How did you first learn of the genocide?

“I came from a very special family that was connected directly with the
Armenian genocide. My grandfather, Richard Hovannisian, who has taught
history at UCLA for the past 50 years, and who is one of the founding
scholars of Armenian studies in the United States, made it no option
for me not to know. The way he came to discover it from his own father,
who was a survivor, was very different. His father survived, escaped,
moved to the San Joaquin Valley, and the instinct of many people of
his generation was to forget, to overcome the past. But many nights,
Kaspar, my great-grandfather, could be heard screaming in his sleep.”

How did they describe the genocide to a child?

“There was this mythic land called Armenia, with a wonderful mountain
called Ararat, where the Bible says Noah’s arc landed, a land where
Christianity first proclaimed. But for some reason, that land didn’t
exist, that land was destroyed, it was a land of ruined churches,
it was a ghost land. And so the stories that my father would tell me
deep into the night always began with ‘there was this land called
Armenia.’ To me, it was the place of my dreams. It was the place
that, having been born in Los Angeles, growing up in Los Angeles,
we would return to.”

Tell us about “1915,” your movie.

“This movie follows a mysterious, intense theater director, who on
one day, April 24, 2015, which happens to be the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian genocide, believes that if he brings the right cast
together, and if he stages this play to perfection, he can actually
bring the ghosts of the Armenian genocide back to life. So in an age
when nobody believes in the theater anymore, this one theater director
is on the mission of his life.”

For much more from our interview with Garin Hovannisian, listen to
the audio interview near the top of the screen.

“1915” opens Friday in Hollywood, Glendale, Beverly Hills, Encino,
Pasadena, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Rancho Palos Verdes, and Whittier;
and April 25 at the Moscow Cinema in Yerevan, Armenia.

ETYEN MAHCUPYAN DID HIS JOB – RUBEN MELKONYAN

13:33 * 17.04.15

The appointment of Etyen Mahcupyan as chief advisor to Turkey’s premier
and his retirement is nothing, but a part of a “democratic” show made
by Turkey, expert in Turkic studies Ruben Melkonyan told Tert.am.

“Turkey has found itself is a rather serious situation after the Pope’s
remark and the European Parliament’s resolution. And pretending to be
a tolerant state allowing people to organize academic comnferences
on the Armenian Genocide has actually proved to be a show. And the
current development in Turkey are the best evidence of that state’s
thinking,” Mr Melkonyan said.

According to the Hurriyet newspaper, the reason for Mahcupyan leaving
his post is his age.

His recent statement on the killings of Armenians in 1915 at the hands
of the Ottoman Empire were a “genocide,” evoked a strong reaction
in Turkey.

Asked if Mahcupyan used the term “genocide” because he was aware he
would retire for age reasons, Mr Melkonyan said:

“Etyen Mahcupyan may have been involved in general tendency. Although
he hardly has any serious ties with the Armenians and cannot be
considered an Armenian figure, he is an intellectual and cannot stand
aloof from international tendencies.”

WHY THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REALLY MATTERS

The News Hub
April 16 2015

The Armenians are still being denied their rightful recognition of
the atrocities they suffered, and it’s outrageous

Sponsored by Rhea Christopher in International

At midnight on the 23rd of April, Armenians around the world will be
remembering a life-altering moment in their history. But this isn’t
just any year to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, it will be the
centenary of an event that took the lives of over a million people,
the loss of over half a country and pushed a community out of their
homes, forcing them to start again in a new country.

But why is there such a push for awareness of this Genocide? The
world knows of the Holocaust, the Rwandan Genocide, and still today
mass killings of communities are ever present; Syria, Palestine and
Kenya most recently. The answer is simple, we know who ordered these
killings. The Nazis, Civil War. But who ordered the mass murder of the
Armenians? This is what is driving the Armenian communities around
the world to march every year to receive recognition for the deaths
of their ancestors.

This is all they ask for: Recognition. A mere sign of respect to the
lost lives, from the Turkish Government. It was Jevdet Bey, a Governor
of the Ottoman Empire, who on 1915 ordered the siege of the Armenian
town of Van, forcing people out of their homes and the taking of lives.

It was this night that the Armenian Massacres began. Imagine going to
bed one night in fear because of rumours of sieges, because you have
either heard of or witnessed random killings of your fellow country
men, being comforted by your mother, or grandparent, that everything
will be ok, and then suddenly, you are forced out of your beds and
thrown onto the streets, random killings, blood glistening in the
moonlight, and as soon as dawn breaks, you find yourself being shoved
into the Syrian desert to find a new home, knowing that the scorching
heat of the desert and the dry sand in your throat could be the last
thing you ever experience.

Armenians have often been accused of inappropriately using the word
‘Genocide’ on the basis that there isn’t sufficient evidence to support
the claims. Let me ask you this, why is it then that Raphael Lemkin,
the creator of the term ‘Genocide’ stated this, “I became interested
in genocide because it happened so many times. It happened to the
Armenians, then after the Armenians, Hitler took action.”

The man who coined the term himself is said to have been influenced by
the killings of Armenians to put a name to the actions that can now
be found in your own dictionary to define the word ‘Genocide’. And
as we have mentioned Hitler, it was he himself who said “who now
remembers the Armenians”. So, if Hitler wanted to do to the Jewish
community, what we now call a Genocide because of what he saw the
Ottoman Turks doing to the Armenians, then how can we deny these
massacres as Genocide?

One excuse is that these events happened before the word ‘Genocide’
ever existed, but this is a completely narrow-minded argument. All
facts, eye-witness accounts, photographs, articles written around
the time by British and French reporters point to Genocide.

So why is the debate still going on? Most recently, Labour MP Stephen
Pound, representing the Armenian community of London, took the debate
to the House of Commons, and I watched the whole of Parliament TV that
day, patiently waiting. It seemed Parliament was more interested in
discussing issues surrounding broadband and Internet access than a
historical event that shaped a society. Just this month also, Kim
Kardashian, and her family, visited Armenia for the first time to
pay respects to their country and support this battle for Recognition.

Turkey to this day still denies the actions of their ancestors. If
Germany were able to apologise for their previous Government’s actions,
then why can’t Turkey? The Armenian communities around this planet will
not rest till they receive it, not only from notable countries such
as Sunny Ol’ England, but from Turkey herself. With other communities
who also experienced mass murders by the Ottomans, Kurds who still
battle with Turks, and Greeks whose battle began in 1453 during the
fall of Constantinople and 1922 just after the 1915 massacres, it is
fair to say that they are not alone and they have built such strong
communities around the world, that their history will never die.

USA : BATAILLE DES POUR ET CONTRE UNE RESOLUTION ARMENIENNE AU CONGRES

1915-2015

La tension monte chaque jour un peu plus dans les couloirs du Congrès
américain a l’approche de la 100ème commémoration du génocide
des Arméniens. C’est ce qu’explique le correspondant au Congrès
pour Al Monitor Julian Pecquet.

Il y a d’une part les 55 membres qui ont présenté un projet de
résolution pour la reconnaissance du génocide des Arméniens, et
d’autre part les opposants, avec a leur tête le Président de la
Chambre des représentant John Boehner, dont l’argumentaire basique
met en avant le rapprochement stratégique de l’Arménie avec l’Iran,
et dans une certaine mesure avec la Russie, alors que les Ã~Itats Unis
voient en la Turquie “un allié très important dans notre guerre
contre les terroristes”, dit-il. Boehner ajoute que cette région
est un endroit très stratégique dans le monde. La Turquie est
“un grand allié, mécontent de cette résolution”. John Boehner a
rencontré le Président du parlement turc, Cemil Cicek, a la fin du
mois dernier et n’a pas encore décidé s’il permettra a la proposition
de résolution de se confronter au vote.

Du côté des partisans pour la reconnaissance, on compte surfer sur
les déclarations du pape Francois qui a exhorté les dirigeants du
monde a parler “avec un sens du devoir, sans céder a des ambiguïté
ou compromis.”

Le ministre des Affaires étrangères turc Mevlut CavuÅ~_oglu se rendra
a Washington entre le 18 et le 21 avril pour tenter de convaincre de
ne pas faire passer la résolution. Il devrait rencontrer John Kerry
a cette occasion.

J.E

vendredi 17 avril 2015, Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

EU PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR #TURKEY TO RECOGNISE ‘GENOCIDE’

MWC – Media With Conscience
April 16 2015

The European Parliament has called on Turkey to recognise the “Armenian
genocide”, sparking condemnation from Ankara, which says the move is
“inconsistent with international law”.

“Armenia and Turkey should use the centenary of the Armenian genocide
to renew diplomatic relations, open the border and pave the way for
economic integration,” a statement by the EU legislature said on
Wednesday after it adopted a non-binding resolution on the issue.

The Members of the European Parliament (MEP) also called on Turkey
to open its archives and “come to terms with its past”.

The EU institution praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
other officials for “offering condolences and recognising atrocities
against the Ottoman Armenians”.

Ankara agrees that many Armenians died in ethnic fighting and the
deportation process between 1915 and 1917, during World War I,
putting its estimate at 300,000 causalities.

Armenia says 1.5 million died in the whole process, including the
march to Syria, in what they claim to be genocide. The accusation
is denied by Turkey, who says there was no systematic attempt to
destroy Armenians.

The centenary of the 1915 killings is to be commemorated on April 24.

MEPs invited Armenia and Turkey to use examples of successful
reconciliation between European nations by ratifying and implementing,
without preconditions, the protocols on the establishment of diplomatic
relations, opening the border and actively improving their relations.

‘Parliament’s jurisdiction exceeded’

In a statement made right after the resolution was passed, the Turkish
foreign ministry said that the resolution was “inconsistent with
international law” and it “exceeded the institution’s jurisdiction”.

“We don’t take seriously this resolution that slaughters history and
law,” the statement said.

“Through the resolution it passed, the European Parliament has repeated
the mistake it made in the past,” it added.

The European Parliament described the killings as a “genocide” in 1987
and has passed similar resolutions affirming its view in the years
2000, 2002 and 2005, calling on Turkey to recognise it as such too.

Avni Ozgurel, a Turkish political analyst, said: “It is not a
surprising resolution. Armenian diaspora have been effectively
lobbying for such resolutions as the centenary of the 1915 incidents
approached.”

He added: “This resolution is almost the same with the 1987 resolution
in terms of content. It creates no legal responsibilities towards
Turkey. However, it is still an important resolution, which is likely
to push Turkey to take on certain initiatives in the field of public
diplomacy.”

Earlier on Wednesday, President Erdogan said that Ankara did not care
about the European Parliament’s resolution.

“It is not possible for Turkey to accept a such a crime,” he said.

“It is hard for me to understand why our nation or media acts so
defensively on the issue. I don’t have any worries to defend [Turkey]
as the president.”

Pope Francis used the word “genocide” for the 1915 killings on Sunday
in a move that angered Ankara, which called back its Vatican ambassador
for consultations.

Countries such as Russia, Canada, France, and Italy recognise the 1915
incidents as “genocide”. It is a crime to deny the “Armenian genocide”
in Switzerland, Cyprus, Slovakia and Greece.

WHY DO THE INFLUENTIAL ESCAPE THE BLAME GAME?

The National, UAE
April 16 2015

Alan Philps

April 16, 2015

In recent days, 100-year-old black-and-white images of women carrying
infants through the desert have flashed up on the screens of news
channels. The images are followed by more recent footage of similar
head-scarfed women fleeing with their babies across the sand. The
first images are shots of the expulsion of Armenians from eastern
Turkey in 1915 during which up to 1.5 million were killed or died of
hunger and thirst. The modern footage is of Yazidi families fleeing
the onslaught of ISIL in Iraq last year.

Is it fair to put these two events side by side on screen, given the
power of images to suggest a continuum of oppression of religious and
ethnic minorities from the First World War to today? The question
will be hard to escape over the next week. Foreshadowing the 100th
anniversary of the start of the Armenian deportations on April 24,
Pope Francis lit the fuse for an explosive debate by describing the
Armenian massacres “the first genocide of the 20th century”.

The pope is used to poking sticks into hornet’s nests. The Vatican
diplomatic service cannot have failed to be aware of the likely
reaction in Turkey, a country recently visited by Francis and one
where the Roman Catholic hierarchy has invested much effort in good
relations. Turkey recalled its ambassador from the Vatican in protest.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament passed a resolution urging Turkey
to recognise the events of 1915 as genocide. The Turkish President,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, responded angrily: “The stain of genocide on
our nation is out of the question.”

This is not the place to rehearse the arguments on both sides, which
have been aired in these pages, including by the Turkish ambassador
today. Under Mr Erdogan the taboo on discussion of the massacres has
been lifted, and he himself has expressed condolences to the Armenian
victims. But there is adamant refusal to accept the term genocide
even though the term is supported by many scholars.

The issue for the Turks is the context of these terrible events. They
took place during a war that caused industrial scale casualties and
against the background of the decades-long collapse of the Ottoman
Empire during which millions of Muslims died and were forced out of
their homes. The Armenians were far from the only victims.

The list of countries where genocide has been ruled by international
courts to have taken place usually includes Nazi Germany and Rwanda,
and in Bosnia at the hands of the Bosnian Serbs. But the powerful
countries escape. Was not Russia guilty of genocide by deporting the
Circassian Muslims in the 1860s from their homeland in the Caucasus,
land where the Sochi winter Olympics were held? And what about Stalin’s
treatment of the Muslim Chechens, deported en masse from their homes
in 1944 and left to die on the steppes of Kazakhstan? And shouldn’t
the European settlers in America be deemed guilty of genocide for
their destruction of the native peoples?

Americans would argue that this argument is ridiculous. After all,
that was in the past. But when did the past stop and the present
begin? Perhaps the line should be drawn from 1948 when the Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted
by the UN General Assembly.

No one can deny that battles over other people’s history are deeply
attractive to the media and to legislatures looking for an easy vote.

It is much easier for the European Parliament to approve a motion
on 1915 than to tackle the tragedy unfolding in the Mediterranean,
where thousands – Syrians, Eritreans and others – are likely to
drown in leaky boats over the summer trying to reach Europe from
Africa. There are no easy solutions there.

A visitor from Mars would be shocked that countries are arguing over
events a century ago while a real humanitarian crisis is unfolding
along Turkey’s southern border.

Some 40 to 50 million people around the world have been forced to
leave their homes by war, civil unrest or climate stress. What to do
about these people and the wars that have ruined their lives is the
real issue of our time. Who, for example, has found a way to help the
16,000 remaining residents of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on
the outskirts of Damascus, besieged and bombed by government forces
and then laid waste by ISIL? The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon,
made a desperate plea for outside intervention, describing Yarmouk
as the “deepest circle of hell”. There was not much response either
from Arab states or the outside powers.

Here lies the answer to why Pope Francis threw caution to the wind
last Sunday. It is not about redress for events 100 years ago. It
is about the future of the Christians in the Middle East at a time
of unprecedented war and dislocation. In the past, the Vatican has
spoken softly in defence of Christians in the region, aware that their
position as integral parts of their communities is undermined if they
appear to have colonial protectors. To put things in context again,
ISIL has killed many more Muslims than Christians or Yazidis.

That policy has not worked. Continuing war in Syria is hastening the
exodus of Christians from the region. If the pope took his gloves
off with Turkey, it is because of Mr Erdogan’s role in the Syrian
conflict, where he has given priority to toppling Bashar Al Assad over
containing the jihadists of ISIL. The Vatican sees things differently –
the triumph of ISIL would be a catastrophe.

Raising the Armenian issue is a stick to beat Mr Erdogan with. But
whether the western world has the right to give morality lessons in a
region where its intervention has caused so much pain and bitterness
is an open question.

Alan Philps is a commentator on global affairs

ITALY PM: TURKEY MUST SHARE EUROPEAN UNION VALUES

13:56, 17.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia, Turkey
Theme: Politics

The Pope’s statement–on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide–was
absolutely righteous, and if Turkey wants to join the European Union
(EU), it must adopt the European values.

The Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, stated the aforesaid at
his talk with the students at Georgetown University in Washington,
D.C., reported La Stampa daily of Italy.

To note, Renzi on Friday will meet with US President Barack Obama.

“I support Turkey’s European integration,” the Italian PM said,
and added: “But Ankara needs to make a decision and accept that it
shares our values.”

Renzi, after a few days of silence, decided to speak clearly and in
simple terms, Tgcom24 noted, for its part.

“The Pope very clearly voiced what had occurred in Armenia, Turkey
reacted to it, and [Italian] Foreign Minister [Paolo] Gentiloni
criticized Ankara’s [respective] statement.

“At this point, Turkey’s [EU] integration process depends on Ankara,”
Matteo Renzi concluded.

GYUMRI MURDER CASE: RELATIVES OF SLAIN FAMILY SUSPICIOUS OF RUSSIAN-LED INVESTIGATION

ANALYSIS | 17.04.15 | 11:05

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has published information about
expert conclusions in the high-profile murder case in Gyumri where a
Russian soldier allegedly gunned down a seven-member Armenian family
in January.

The results of the examinations provided little news. One of the few
remarkable statements is that all bullets found in the house of the
Avetisyans were fired from the submachine-gun belonging to Valery
Permyakov, a 19-year-old conscript at the Russian base stationed in
Gyumri. Also it was established that the submachine-gun allegedly
used by Permyakov had no muffler.

The mass murder appears to be one of the obstacles in the way of
traditionally friendly Armenian-Russian relations. Russia refuses
to transfer the accused to Armenian justice. At the same time, the
Armenian side does not seem to be doing enough – at least as it appears
to the Armenian public – to secure Permyakov’s handover. This situation
is perceived negatively by most members of the Armenian society.

Judging from the actions of the Armenian and Russian sides, there
is some sort of agreement about the maximum possible concealment of
the circumstances of the high-profile crime. Two criminal cases have
been instituted on the same case – by the investigative committees
of Russia and Armenia.

It is remarkable that in the case instituted by the Russian
Investigative Committee the victim is the Republic of Armenia. By
the Armenian case, the victims are the Avetisyan family and their
legal successors.

Armenia’s leading human rights activist Arthur Sakunts finds it
odd that the legal successors of the Avetisyan family do not figure
as a party in the case investigated by the Russian side. Moreover,
it is not known whether there is an accused party in the case being
investigated by the Armenian side, as Armenian investigators have no
possibility to interrogate Permyakov who is kept at the Russian base.

Meanwhile, it is most likely that the real trial will be based on
the criminal case being investigated by the Russian side.

However, as things stand now, it is unlikely that anyone will really
represent the Avetisyan family at the trial by the Russian court and,
accordingly, the victims’ relatives will not have an opportunity
to ask questions to Permyakov even in the court-room. Meanwhile,
there appear to be a lot of questions to be asked. Relatives of the
Avetisyans have long harbored suspicions that Permyakov acted not
alone, but had accomplices and that the investigators hide something.

Lawyers say that the Russian and Armenian side could have some secret
agreement to hide some of the true circumstances of the crime and
“isolate” the relatives and lawyers of the victims’ legal successors
so that they could not ask questions during the trial. Lawyers and
human rights activists argue that even if the Armenian side fails
to get Permyakov’s handover to Armenian justice, it should seek the
involvement of the Avetisyans’ legal successors as a party in the
case being investigated by Russia.

KARABAKH PRESIDENT ATTENDS ASSEMBLY OF DEFENSE ARMY MILITARY DIVISIONS

14:54 17/04/2015 >> SOCIETY

Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic President Bako Sahakyan on Friday
attended the assembly of the Defense Army’s military divisions’
commanders and deputy commanders, the President’s press office reports.

In his remarks, President Sahakyan stressed the importance of such
events, held in parallel with multi-stage command staff maneuvers,
for the Defense Army and Armenian armed forces.

According to the President, they enable to refine theoretical and
practical skills and knowledge of the command staff, get acquainted
with the advanced experience and its application on the spot, raise
the combat readiness of the military divisions’ command staff, as
well as reclaim the existing shortcomings and omissions.

President Sahakyan gave concrete instructions to the Defense Army’s
command staff towards the solution of a number of strategic and
tactical issues.

ARMENIA AND CHINA IMPLEMENT PROJECTS IN INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION, AMBASSADOR

YEREVAN, April 17. / ARKA /. Armenia and China are implementing joint
projects in the fields of industrial cooperation and infrastructure
construction, China’s ambassador to Armenia Tian Erlun told ARKA.

According to him, both governments are taking additional measures to
stimulate diverse bilateral relations.

“We are discussing now a number of projects in the fields of industrial
cooperation and infrastructure construction, which means increased
cooperation,’ said Erlun.

During Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s state visit to China
on March 24-28, the sides signed more than a dozen agreements on
cooperation in various fields, including bilateral cooperation in
the legal, economic, techno-economic, customs, education, tourism
and other fields.

According to experts, Sargsyan’s visit will strengthen bilateral
economic ties, which have great potential both in terms of the
implementation of mutual investments and trade growth.

According to Armenia’s National Statistical Service, the trade
turnover between Armenia and China in 2014 increased by 29.4% from
the previous year to $588.4 million (9.9% of the total foreign trade
of Armenia). China is Armenia’s second largest trade partner.-0-